Calendar of Events

Tito Puente Jr., Sunday, August 18, 7:30 PM at the Bijou Theatre.

Tickets at: https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/1B0060C7862241EE

Bijou Theatre, 803 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information/tickets: 865-522-0832, https://knoxbijou.org/

East Tennessee Bluegrass Association (ETNBA) and Ijams Nature Center are partnering to bring folks together to create music in a beautiful space! Join the fun at a community jam session for all acoustic bluegrass instruments (no harmonicas or spoons at this time) every third Sunday from 2-5 pm.

All skill levels are welcome. Jam sessions will be inside the Visitor Center during the winter months. Chairs will be set up and ready for you to enjoy the show!

Not a musician? Feel free to come out and enjoy the music! Always FREE and open to the public.

For more information or to sign up, go to www.ETNBA.org or follow ETNBA on Facebook or Instagram.

2915 Island Home Ave, Knoxville, TN 37920
https://www.ijams.org/event-details/special-event-east-tennessee-bluegrass-association-monthly-jam-2024-07-21-14-00

Aug 18 | Lawson McGhee Library | 1:30 p.m.
https://www.knoxcountylibrary.org/events/upcoming?keywords=daytime+docs

This month we’ll be screening the hilarious 2007 documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. Unprecedented rivalry rocks the electronic world to its core. Novice gamer Steve Wiebe on his quest to destroy the top score of gaming legend Billy Mitchell, the uncontested champion of the Donkey Kong world for over 20 years. Only one can truly claim the title King of Kong.

Daytime Docs is a monthly film series featuring documentaries that bring awareness to diverse perspectives and life experiences through the power of visual storytelling.

We will have our regional competition at Bluetick Tavern in Maryville on Sunday, August 18th starting at 5 PM. Doors open at 4:00 PM, music starts at 5 PM. Purchase tickets at the door, no advance sales. Proceeds go towards funding the winning bands’ travel to Memphis. Tickets are $5 for SMBS members & $10 for non-members. Cash only please.

The International Blues Challenge (IBC) represents the worldwide search for those blues bands and solo/duo blues performers and youth bands who are ready for the international stage, while needing only that extra big break to achieve their goals. Each affiliated chapter of The Blues Foundation has the right to send a youth band, solo/duo musician(s) and a band to represent its organization at the IBC.

For years, the Smoky Mountain Blues Society (SMBS), A Blues Foundation affiliate, has proudly sent blues bands, duos and youth bands to Memphis to compete in this classic event for years. This year we continue that fine tradition. We invite our members and all blues enthusiasts to come to our very own IBC to hear some great music and to cheer on the competitors. It’s a great way to thank local musicians for keeping the blues alive in East Tennessee.

Participating artists will be evaluated by a panel of judges that will score performances on blues content, originality, vocals, instrumental talent, and stage presence. The Smoky Mountain Blues Society holds its regional competition this time of the year in order for the winning acts have plenty of time to raise much-needed funds and prepare for the excitement of Memphis!

The winning artists in each category of Band and Solo/Duo will represent East Tennessee at the International Blues Challenge to be held on January 7– 11, 2025 on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee! Bluetick Tavern is a non-smoking and family-friendly with a delicious menu and beverage service. For more information contact: SmokyMountainBluesSociety@gmail.com

August 18, 2024 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Spacecraft, 119 Jennings Avenue
Knoxville, Tennessee 37917
Free!

Come see what we've been up to. First Take Co. is going heads down on some new projects, and we want to keep you in the loop! Any time you see a "WORK IN PROGRESS" event, you know it's something brand new we're looking to try out. This month: a musical exploration by Grace Belt & Ethan Graham Roeder.

https://www.simpletix.com/e/work-in-progress-tickets-180671

Sunday, August 18, 2024 from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM (ET)
The Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus • Knoxville TN

Tennessee Wind Symphony, under the direction of Dr. John Culvahouse is pleased to present a thematic concert titled "FIESTA!" dedicated to the selections of lively music arranged for symphonic band. Featuring . . .

Philip Sparke: Fiesta!
Roger Nixon: Fiesta Del Pacifico
Santiago Lope: Gallito
Mitch Leigh: Selections from Man of La Mancha
Dmitri Shostakovich: Tahiti Trot
Alfred Reed: El Camino Real

The TWS has performed in Washington, DC, London, England and at Carnegie Hall, New York, and has received numerous awards and acclamations including the 2007-2008 John Philip Sousa Foundation Sudler Silver Scroll, North America's most prestigious award for community concert bands. The Tennessee Wind Symphony is dedicated to excellence in symphonic band performance and to providing quality band music to the people of Tennessee and the surrounding area.

For more information about the TWS, please visit http://tnwindsymphony.org

Admission is Free: Seating is Limited.(doors open 1 hour before concert) Please Respect our Sacred Space: No Food/Drink/Gum.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cathedral-concert-tennessee-wind-symphony-tickets-982118150827

The Sundress Academy for the Arts is excited to present Poetry Xfit hosted by Denise Ervin. This generative workshop event will take place on Sunday, August 18th from 2 to 4 pm EST via Zoom. Join us at the link tiny.utk.edu/sundress with the password “safta”.

Poetry Xfit isn't about throwing tires or heavy ropes, but the idea of confusing our muscles is the same. You will receive ideas, guidelines, and more as part of this generative workshop series in order to complete three poems in two hours. A new set of prompts will be provided after the writers have written collaboratively for thirty minutes. The goal is to create material that can be later modified and transformed into artwork rather than producing flawless final versions. The event is open to prose authors as well!

Denise R. Ervin is a creative writer hewn from the streets, classrooms, and boardrooms of Detroit. She has spent two decades as a teaching artist, performing poetry around the country, and leading workshops for the likes of Midnight & Indigo and Room Project. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in AADUNA, Harbinger Asylum, Third Wednesday Magazine, and others. Most recently, she was selected as a Graduate Fellow by The Watering Hole and a semifinalist for America’s Next Great Author. She also serves at Literary Arts Director for SAFTA and manages a youth writing program in her hometown.

While this is a free event, donations can be made to the Sundress Academy for the Arts
https://www.facebook.com/events/349813084665600/

Saturday, August 17, 2024 10am to 3pm
Monday, August 19, 2024 11am to 6pm
Thursday, August 22, 2024 11am to 6pm
Friday, August 23, 2024 11am to 6pm
Saturday, August 24, 2024 10am to 3pm

Join us in welcoming a new cohort to the UT School of Art!
At UT Downtown Gallery, 106 S. Gay Street, Knoxville TN 37902
http://downtown.utk.edu
Free! Contact Phone: 865-673-0802
https://calendar.utk.edu/event/first-year-mfa-exhibition

8/17 • 2024 Ijams Hummingbird Festival: Celebration of Wings
8/18 • Self-Care Sunday Yoga
8/18 • Full Moon Paddle
8/21 • A Summer Smorgasbord of Stories with the Smoky Mountain
Storytellers Association

Ijams Nature Center, 2915 Island Home Ave, Knoxville, TN 37920. Visitor Center open daily 10-6; grounds and trails open daily from 8 AM - dusk. Information: 865-577-4717, www.ijams.org

The Knoxville Choral Society is excited to announce fall auditions for the 2024-2025 season on August 11, 12, 18, and 19. Auditions will take place at Ball Camp Baptist Church, located at 2412 Ball Camp Byington Road in Knoxville. Openings are available in all voice parts for the 100-voice volunteer choir. Rehearsals are held most Monday evenings from August to May, between 7:30 and 9:30 PM. The audition process includes an assessment of vocal quality, sight-reading, and tonal memory drills. No prepared piece is required. For more information and to reserve an audition time, visit www.knoxvillechoralsociety.org/Sing or email membership@knoxvillechoralsociety.org.

Since 1951, the Knoxville Choral Society has proudly shared a diverse range of choral music with the Knoxville community. Dedicated to choral performance excellence, the group, consisting of over 100 auditioned musicians, performs major choral and orchestral works, highlighting a variety of choral literature and styles.

“The Knoxville Choral Society offers singers the chance to participate in high-caliber choral concerts in our area,” says John Orr, Artistic Director of the Knoxville Choral Society. “We seek artistic, creative singers who love choral music of all kinds and who want to connect through the creative expression of the choral arts.” For additional information about the 2024-2025 concert season and tickets, visit www.knoxvillechoralsociety.org.

Art Exhibit at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, Free and open to the public
Reception Friday, August 9, 2024, 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Artist talks at 6:30 p.m.
Gallery hours: 9:30 - 4:30 Monday through Thursday, 9:00 – 1:00 Sunday
At Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church Gallery, 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37918

Mary Bow
Images of many different animals, both domesticated and wild, are rendered in thickly applied acrylic paint on textured canvases using a dry brush technique that allows successive layers of color to show through. Bow hopes to provoke empathy for non-human animals as they live, raise their young and experience joy, sorrow and pain. Mary Bow has degrees in Anthropology, Psychology, and Visual Art, as well as higher degrees in Education. She feels that she has a unique perspective on how human relationships with others in the animal kingdom have changed over time. www.marypbow.com

Curt Imerman’s finely detailed drawings of barns are created by using fine-tipped pens as a brush rather than an instrument to draw lines. As the tip of the pen wears away from use, it produces lighter and finer lines, allowing different effects. Imerman says, “Barns are disappearing from our country’s landscape at an ever-increasing rate. Barns are a part of our Americana. This is my way of memorializing and sharing my fascination with old, weathered barns.” Imerman’s attention to detail comes from his career as a mechanical designer for a major U.S. crane manufacturer. While designing cranes, Curt’s drawing talent was called upon to prepare conceptual drawings of various lift crane designs. He is a member of the Art Market Gallery in Knoxville and serves on their Board of Directors.

https://tvuuc.org/

Performed Thursdays and Fridays at 7 PM; Saturdays at 1 PM and 5 PM; and Sundays at 3 PM.

Tom Sawyer may be the most famous resident of St. Petersburg, Missouri, but he’s a down to earth character who not only knows how to cure warts with stump water and live the swashbuckling life on the high seas, he can also whitewash a fence in no time flat. Mark Twain’s homage to the imagination and high adventure of youth on the mighty Mississippi features Tom and a cast of characters who live at the very heart of Americana: Huck Finn, Aunt Polly, Becky Thatcher, the Widow Douglas, Muff Potter, and more.

The play is performed by 17 talented young actors and designed by 9 talented young designers from ages 9 to 16.

KCT is East Tennessee’s leading producer of plays for children and families.
Knoxville Children's Theatre, 109 E. Churchwell Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-208-3677, www.knoxvillechildrenstheatre.com